Mountain Bike Festival Growing

Event To Team Up With First Friday

Courtney Walbe takes a spin Saturday along the Slaughter Pen Trail in Bentonville. The mountain bike and hiking trail features a network of loops from easy to difficult.
Courtney Walbe takes a spin Saturday along the Slaughter Pen Trail in Bentonville. The mountain bike and hiking trail features a network of loops from easy to difficult.

BENTONVILLE — One of the most popular mountain bike races in the state has its sights set on a future where it draws top ranked cyclists from around the world to the Slaughter Pen Trails.

The Slaughter Pen Jam already brings in internationally renowned trials riders and hundreds of mountain bike enthusiasts to downtown Bentonville each September. This year’s event will team up with First Friday for three days of bike stunts and bluegrass acts from around the country starting Sept. 6.

At A Glance

The Schedule

Slaughter Pen Jam Schedule of Events:

Sept. 6 (all on the Bentonville square)

• Slaughter Pen Jam Music Festival

• Registration for cross-country race

• World Trials Champion Bicycle Stunt Exhibition

Sept. 7

• Cross-country mountain bike races starting at Slaughter Pen Free Ride Park

• Leisure night ride from downtown Bentonville to dinner and live music

Sept. 8

• Sunday bluegrass brunch downtown

Source: Staff Report

“We’d like to see Slaughter Pen grow to become one of the best races in this part of the country,” said Alan Ley, director of Bike Bentonville. “Hopefully, as the years go by, we can make it one of the top events in the nation.”

The annual festival is held on dozens of miles of off-road trails that comprise the Slaughter Pen system just north of downtown Bentonville. Cross-country racers zip around 9, 18 or 27 miles of trail, depending on skill level. Children can participate in 3- and 6-mile races, according to the Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series’ website. Friends at Slaughter Pen Trail organizes the event, and any proceeds go back into trail maintenance and development.

“We have the trails now to support a variety of races,” Ley said. “I’m confident the trails will continue to expand to handle a wide variety of races and more racers.”

The Bentonville race is unique in its proximity to all the offerings of downtown — from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to a diverse collection of restaurants. Riders can finish up a day in the dirt with a locally-sourced meal without ever having to get in their car.

“It’s an event that happens within the city limits of Bentonville,” said Gary Vernon, president of Friends at Slaughter Pen Trail. “Most races are out in the middle of nowhere. Here, you can enjoy the nightlife. There are several great restaurants within biking distance.”

First Friday adds another unique component, bringing in bluegrass acts from around the country to perform in conjunction with the festival. The night of Sept. 6 will pair bluegrass and carnival food with the jam’s trials competition. Mountain bike trials, or observed trials, feature riders jumping their bikes onto and over obstacles without putting down a foot.

Renowned trials riders Kenny Belaey of Belgium and Adrian Lengyel of Hungary will show off their skills this year. Belaey, nicknamed ‘The Magician,’ holds the most official Union Cycliste Internationale trials titles with four wins at elite world championships, six world cup wins and three European titles.

Lengyel traveled to Bentonville for last year’s event and wowed spectators inside the Phat Tire Bike Shop, hopping over friends and jumping around the counters of the shop.

“We’re making this the Cirque du Soleil of riding by bringing in these world-class riders so the kids of Bentonville can watch them and get their autographs,” Vernon said. “Most of the bike enthusiasts here would never get to see this kind of talent.”

Promoting cycling among youth is a big part of the mission for Friends at Slaughter Pen Trail. The group has a FAST Kids team that is the top ranked team in the Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series’ Future Champions Cup. Volunteers led by group member Greg Pool work weekly to help children engage in their passion of biking.

Ley said he believes the focus placed on developing cycling talent in Bentonville, coupled with quality of local trails, could lead to a top cyclist or triathlete coming out of the city within the next decade.

“We have the pieces to make this the biggest youth and junior development program in the U.S.,” Ley said. “I think if you look down the road, four to eight years from now, there’s a good possibility we could have riders come out of the Northwest Arkansas area that could compete with the best in the world in mountain biking, off-road triathlon and triathlon.”

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